Aligned

“What if he doesn’t like me?” I stare blankly into the mirror in front of me.

Harper lets out a short laugh.

“Dahlia—”

“I’m serious. What if I disappoint him? What if I’m not what he was hoping for?” I look at Harper, searching her face for comfort.

Harper’s laugh dies when she realizes I’m serious.

“What if he’s a teacher? Or a scientist?” I turn toward her. “How am I supposed to support someone like that? My degree is in finance, not quantum physics.”

Harper stares at me, her eyes wide and jaw hanging open.

“Oh, Harper,” I press my hand to my chest. “The world is going to expect our kids to be scientific. How am I going to help them follow in their father’s footsteps?”

Harper scrunches her nose.

“You really picked today to start losing your mind.” Harper turns me toward the mirror. “Look. Look at this beautiful, intelligent woman. You are worrying about things that haven’t happened. If he is a scientist, then you and I will go to the bookstore and buy every book on science they have. We’ll learn it together.”

I laugh despite myself.

Just like that, the knot in my chest loosens as I picture setting roasted chicken on the table, my husband and three children smiling.

Auren always gets it right. Numbers have always made sense to me, so at my dinner table we’ll discuss forecast models and budgets.

Today is going to be perfect.

On your Alignment Day, you’re allowed to choose one person besides your mother to participate in the ceremony.

Most people choose their best friend, and Harper and I have been best friends since we were three years old. Harper chose me for hers and naturally I chose her for mine.

Most people couldn’t name a single elected official, but everyone knew Auren. The organization operated in nearly every nation on Earth, and after eighty-two years of successful soulmate Alignments, most people couldn’t tell where government ended and Auren began.

Harper catches my eye in the mirror and flashes me a grin.

“Stop it, Dahlia.” My mother smooths a wrinkle from the sleeve of my bright green dress. “Look at you. Everything is perfect.”

My mother has been planning my soulmate introduction ceremony since I was sixteen. Everything has to be perfect since my Alignment is going to be televised live.

She’d never recover if anything went wrong today.

I don’t know which would be worse—disappointing myself or disappointing her.

In less than an hour I will have a fiance, I will have a future and my mother will be proud.

A glossy Auren pamphlet sits beside my makeup brushes below the gold-framed mirror I sit in front of.

READY TO START YOUR FAMILY?

The smiling blonde couple on the front beams beneath gold lettering.

Stable mothers create stable families.

Since Alignment implementation:

-Childhood homelessness reduced by 94%

-Family abandonment reduced by 97%

-Fertility success increased by 63%

I flip it over absentmindedly while Harper curls my hair beside me.

I’ve read so many of these pamphlets growing up I can practically recite them from memory.

“Auren compatibility testing for women begins immediately following university completion,” the pamphlet reads. “Optimized fertility matching ensures stronger emotional foundations for future generations.”

Male compatibility screening begins at age fourteen.

“Your mom left like six of those in your bathroom,” Harper says. “I think she’s hoping you’ll magically produce grandchildren immediately after the ceremony.”

I snort softly before tossing the pamphlet aside.

“Probably.” I roll my eyes and purse my lips. “Now Dahlia, make sure you are a good wife and give your husband and society children quickly, we can’t have any scandals attached to us.”

My imitation of my mother earns a laugh from Harper and a glare from my mother.

“You can laugh all you want girls, but scandals are nothing to be trifled with. Harper, you should know that better than most.”

Harper’s eyes fall to the floor for a moment, before she shakes it off.

My mom turns away to go through packages on the table behind us.

“Of course you have your mom’s impossible to curl hair,” Harper scoffs as she curls the same golden lock for the fifth time.

“At least I don’t have your frizzy red mess, like you got from your dad,” I half laugh back at her.

Harper narrows her bright emerald eyes at me.

“Be serious, girls. Everyone is waiting for us.”

My mother turns from the table, adjusting a diamond bracelet around her wrist.

Her eyes move critically across the pearl-white drapes, gilded furniture, and polished marble floors like the entire room personally insulted her.

“It’s a shame they stuck us in the Pearl Room instead of the Diamond Suite,” she mutters.

Harper scoffs under her breath.

My mother ignores her completely before latching a solitaire diamond necklace around my neck.

“Whoever your soulmate is better come from a very important family. Seeing as how they were given the better room.”

“Were you excited for your ceremony, Mom?” I ask, handing Harper a brush.

A soft smile touches her mouth as she dusts more blush across my cheekbones.

Looking at her always feels a little like looking into the future. The same blonde hair. The same brown eyes. The same sharp cheekbones.

“My mother had a blue gown tailor-made for me. It was silk with hand-sewn beads.” Her smile widens slightly. “It was perfect, Dahlia.”

I glance at Harper, rolling my eyes. My mother’s smile never quite reached her eyes.

Her expression stays perfectly in place.

“We’re lucky,” she continues. “People used to choose their spouses for themselves. Can you imagine?”

“My mom says marriage was a disaster before Alignment,” Harper says as she kneels to unbox my heels. “People cheated, fought, abandoned their families. Sometimes they even killed each other.”

“Harper.” My mother turns sharply toward her. “Honestly. There is no need to discuss such uncivilized things on a day like this.”

Harper rolls her eyes dramatically before helping me into my shoes. She then looks up and gives me an overly polished smile while slightly raising her eyebrows, which is our secret code for “Behave. Your mother is watching.”

“Okay girls. It’s time.” My mother reaches to help pull me up before taking both of my hands. Her smile is slightly brighter than normal as she gives me a once over. Then she gives my hands a firm squeeze before taking her place beside me.

“Ready?” my mother asks.

I nod.

“Love you, Mom.”

“Me too.” She catches a curl that’s already slipping loose and winds it back into place with her finger.

“Me too,” Harper’s lips pull into a sarcastic smile. “Love you, psycho.”

“Love you, bitch,” I smile back at her.

Harper slips in on my other side. Our heels click softly against the marble floor as we walk toward the Confirmation Suite.

The hallway looks less like a corridor and more like something designed to remind visitors exactly where they stand in society.

White marble floors gleam beneath rows of crystal chandeliers, their light catching the gold accents woven through every inch of the architecture.

Massive portraits of past Alignment couples line the walls, their smiling faces watching guests pass beneath them giving silent approval from generations of perfect matches.

My hands shake as we reach the door, but I can’t stop the smile tugging at my lips.

Harper leans closer, fighting a grin. “Last chance to run.”

I laugh under my breath. We both know I’d never do that. Today means everything to me.

A man in a perfectly tailored black suit opens a door before we reach it.

“Welcome, ladies.” His eyes settle on my mother as he speaks.

“Mrs. Vale, please retrieve the tablet from the table and turn the screen where the others cannot see.”

My mother gives my hand a quick squeeze before stepping forward. Mothers are always granted a preview of their child’s match.

Most people consider it a formality because saying no has consequences.

Harper’s ceremony had been delayed at this exact point during her Alignment.

It was horrible for her. Her family was shunned from every party and became the talk of every social circle for almost two months.

I’d never seen adults so afraid of a single word before: no.

Nobody says no to their Aligned soulmate. At least, nobody who wanted to keep their reputation.

The problem was that Harper’s match wasn’t a stranger. Everyone remembered him.

Two years earlier, when he was still in college, he had been at the center of a scandal. Rumors claimed his girlfriend convinced him to run away with her before graduation rather than risk being Aligned to someone else.

Nobody knew what was true and what was gossip. All we knew was that Auren had stepped in.

So when his name appeared as Harper’s match, her mother refused to approve him. Her fear… what if he still loves that woman and abandons Harper one day.

I still remember the look on Mrs. Bennett’s face when she said no. The man conducting the ceremony looked just as shocked.

Auren spent nearly two months meeting with both families, assuring the Bennett’s that Harper’s future would be secure.

Then one morning Harper received a new ceremony date.

The only explanation anyone was given came in the documents her parents received.

Auren assures both families the correction has been successful and that all emotional irregularities have been stabilized.

This candidate is ready for Alignment.

Harper and I spent weeks trying to figure out what that meant.

In the end, if Auren said he was ready, that was enough reassurance for everyone.

He was ready.

My heart races as my mother reaches for the tablet. This is it…

Her choice decides the rest of my life.

If she says no, everything I’ve imagined for my future disappears. If she says yes, I will meet my future husband in less than ten minutes. My soulmate.

As the screen in my mother’s hands lights up, she lets out a faint gasp. She smiles at the screen. The same smile she always gives, never joyful or excited, just a smile.

“Do you approve, Mrs. Vale?” the man asks flatly.

Everything around me blurs. This is it.

Yes or no. My entire future hangs on someone else’s answer.

“I approve.”

Harper squeals beside me, grabbing my arm so hard it almost hurts.

“The other mother has approved as well,” the man says. “Please follow me to the veil for the final reveal.”

My heart pounds so hard I can barely hear him.

In a few moments, I’ll finally meet the person made for me.

As we reach the end of the hallway, the white curtain comes into view, trimmed in gold and glowing softly beneath the overhead lights.

My mother stops and turns toward us, “Girls, please remember this is televised. Keep your reactions appropriate, you are going to be wives and mothers soon.”

“Come here young lady. How dare you have a smudge on your face.” Harper mockingly says as she wipes a lipstick smudge from my face.

My mother gives us both a death glare as we giggle.

“Yes ma’am,” we say in unison, straightening up and walking up to the veil.

On either side of me, Harper and my mother each wrap a hand around the long gold cords that will drop the veil to the floor.

Beyond the curtain, I can hear the muffled sound of voices from the audience.

My father should be standing somewhere behind the divider separating the two families.

Everything is revealed at once. Nobody but the mothers know whose family sits on the other side of the white fabric walls.

Harper beams at me, practically vibrating with excitement.

The ballroom lights dim.

Conversation fades as the massive screen towering above the velvet curtains flickers to life.

The gold Auren insignia slowly rotates against a black background while soft orchestral music swells through the room.

A woman’s calm voice fills the ballroom.

“Every future begins with Alignment.”

Images flash across the screen.

Crowded orphanages filled with crying, dirty, sick children.

Single mothers standing in long lines outside government assistance offices.

“Before Auren compatibility matching, nearly ninety percent of marriages ended in separation. Birth rates collapsed. Government assistance programs failed under unprecedented demand. Millions of children experienced food insecurity, homelessness, or abandonment. ”

The images disappear.

Now smiling couples fill the screen.

Wedding photos, gender reveal parties, and backyard barbecues.

Children blowing out birthday candles, wearing celebration hats, pinatas spilling candy from trees.

“Auren changed everything.”

Applause ripples through the crowd outside of the curtains.

“Today, Auren serves families across more than one hundred nations.”

The narrator continues.

“Eighty-two years ago, Dr. Elias Auren discovered the Compatibility Gene. For the first time in human history, science could identify the person most capable of creating a stable, lasting partnership.”

A DNA strand slowly rotates across the screen.

“Today, compatibility screening begins at age fourteen for boys and upon completion of higher education for women, allowing Auren to build stronger foundations for future generations.”

The image changes again.

Now dozens of smiling Alignment couples stand beneath the golden DNA insignia of Auren, identical to the one hidden behind the curtains in front of us.

“Auren families are healthier.”

Another image.

“Happier.”

Another.

“More stable.”

The crowd applauds again.

Beside me, Harper leans closer.

“I think this is my mother’s favorite part of Alignment ceremonies.”

My mother presses a hand to her chest.

Harper raises an eyebrow.

“Here we go.”

My mother’s expression sharpens.

“You girls laugh, but you didn’t hear the stories of what it was like before.”

Her expression hardens.

“Families fell apart faster than governments could help them. Children went hungry. Entire neighborhoods became dependent on assistance programs because one parent simply walked away.”

She shakes her head.

“Countries were collapsing under the strain. Governments couldn’t keep up. That’s why the entire world adopted Alignment. People like to romanticize it. It wasn’t romantic. It was chaos.”

The teasing smile slips from Harper’s face.

“Mom…” I whisper.

“No. It saved society,” my mother turns to look at me. “More importantly, it saved girls from making mistakes. You grew up safe because of Alignment.”

The narrator’s voice grows warmer.

“Tonight, another future begins.”

The Auren insignia fills the screen.

“Because stable mothers create stable families.”

Gold letters appear beneath it.

TRUST THE MATCH.

TRUST AUREN.

Harper and I mouth the last two lines of the video while looking at each other. Our giggles earn a glare from my mother.

Most people did trust Auren. The ones who didn’t usually ended up as cautionary tales.

The curtains begin to tremble.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a smooth voice echoes through the speakers overhead, “it is our pleasure to announce Auren’s newest Alignment pairing.”

“Mothers, fathers, and honored guests,” the voice continues, “please release the veil.”

Harper and my mother yank the gold cords at the same time. I hold my breath as the white curtain spills gracefully to the floor.

Silence fills the room. A few excited gasps ripple through the crowd as the white fabric drifts to the floor.

My heart flutters. This is it.

It’s my turn.

Please don’t let him be disappointed.